Digital Printing-Wide Format - Flatbed

There are many ways for lithographers to change their business models to promote growth, but there’s one proven approach based on the premise that it’s easier to sell additional services to an existing customer. Adding wide-format digital imaging is one way to add value for existing customers and gain entry to new markets.

Agfa Graphics will be hosting a free “Wide-Format Open House” event at its distribution center in Plano, TX, on Sept. 18-20, 2012, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Wide-format inkjet is a fast-growing segment in the printing industry and is helping many printers differentiate themselves by offering new and exciting products and services to their customers that previously were unattainable for most commercial printers.”

To transform the distant past into realistic, life-sized color images for its new “Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana” exhibition, the Royal Ontario Museum turned to Beyond Digital Imaging and its HP latex printing technology. The longest mural spans 100+ feet.

With the recent addition of two Inca Onset S40s in its St. Paul, MN, location, Vomela Specialty becomes the first North American printer to own and operate the entire suite of Inca Onset large-format digital inkjet printers distributed by Fujifilm.

One subject that I feel doesn’t get enough coverage is wide-format finishing. With the rapid growth of digital printing technology in this area, the focus on finishing is increasing. The combination of print-on-demand wide-format printing and finishing has truly revolutionized the large-format signage and display industries.

With one of North America’s largest installed bases of large-format digital UV flatbed press equipment, Tempt In-Store Productions’ new 100,000-square-foot facility in New Berlin, WI, has become a leader in the technology revolution that is changing how retailers market in-store.

Tulsa, OK-based Meeks Group has installed HP Scitex LX850 and FB700 industrial printers to help improve its productivity, meet environmental demands and diversify the company’s application offerings. Meeks is a full-service print provider specializing in vehicle wraps, banners, trade show graphics and point-of-purchase displays.

Source One Digital, located in Norton Shores, MI, recently installed a Uvistar 2 superwide-format UV roll printer, along with two UV inkjet flatbed machines—an Inca Onset S40 and Acuity Advance. “If it can be printed on rigid or roll material, we can print it.”

According to InfoTrends, the global market for wide-format UV-curable inkjet printers and supplies is expected to grow from $1.42 billion in 2010 to $3.04 billion in 2015 for a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.4 percent.

Modernistic Inc. is a leading supplier of point-of-purchase signage based in Stillwater, MN. “The (Agfa Titan’s) low ink consumption and true 1,200-dpi resolution fills a void for customers looking for ‘near litho’ quality on lower volume products,” said Scott Schulte, co-CEO.